Twenty-Four Weeks

Here I am at 24 weeks. Officially V-Day or viability day! Strictly speaking, most doctors define the age of viability as being about 24 weeks of gestation. In many hospitals, 24 weeks is the cutoff point for when doctors will use intensive medical intervention to attempt to save the life of a baby born prematurely. A baby born at 24 weeks would generally require a lot of intervention, potentially including mechanical ventilation and other invasive treatments followed by a lengthy stay in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

That said, I plan to have Miss Libby cooking in here for at least 14 or more weeks, please! She's getting bigger (I think) or at least, I am. Not so much around, but definitely my bump is firmer and growing out more. She's really active too and Mr. Divasaur felt her kick for the first time over the weekend. In fact, I was reading a book and rested it on my belly and she actually kicked it. Too funny!

I am preparing for my last trip of the year and the last one of this pregnancy (my next one is planned for July 2010, when the baby will be 5 months or so). Off to Nashville for a 10 day International Convention. Normally, I'd be assigned to work 16 hour days, but I got a doctor's note that is restricting me to 10. That said, it will probably be closer to 12, but at least I can take breaks when I need to and also rest if I must. It's a rigorous event with only 26 staffers (from our company...tons of staff from the convention center and hotels) to about 6,000 delegates! I will be exhausted, no doubt.

I have also been fighting some sort of wet cough for the past 5 days. I think it might be related to allergies that I sometimes get in the Fall, especially if it's been rainy (which it has been). I am basically allergic to decomposing leaves. Lovely. I have no fever or aches like a flu, but do have post-nasal drip at night (which my heartburn surely doesn't help) and that leaves me to wake up with a rattling chest cough. I finally broke down and got some Robitussin DM yesterday (it's on my doc's "safe list") so I could sleep through the night without hacking and hopefully, thin some of the phlegm. The last thing I want is that Mucinex dude and his family settling into my lungs for the winter. Ew.

Oh and my size 7 wedding ring is officially too small to leave on now. I mean, it fits, but it's snug to take off and I am worried that if I leave it on much longer I won't have any wiggle room to get it off! Luckily, my mom has let me wear her size 8 yellow diamond three stone ring until mine fits again. It's a little smaller and lighter than I am used to (my wedding ring is a heavy platinum setting of three pear shaped diamonds nearing 3 carats total) so it's an interesting feeling to get used to wearing this one, but I am glad that my hand doesn't have to go unadorned for four more months of pregnancy and who knows how long afterward (I am assuming my finger will shrink back to its pre-preg size)!

Other than that, not much is going on. My next appointment is after I get back from Nashville. I have started a list of questions I want to address with my OB/GYN about the birthing process. I also plan to visit our hospital's labor and delivery ward on November 9th. We have our maternity photos scheduled for November 7th and our birthing classes start on November 14th. I am happy to have this one last working trip here so that I can get through it and onto being home and getting prepared for baby. My nesting instinct tends to kick in this time of year, around the holidays, and this year, it's even stronger!

Here's what's up with our baby this week, according to BabyCenter:

image source

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.